Notre Dame football recruiting: Early enrollees have already put in the work

Only a couple months after finishing their senior football seasons and just days after being reassured that Brian Kelly would remain Notre Dame's head coach, five Irish recruits start their college careers on Tuesday.

They've all been verbally committed to Notre Dame for at least eight months, and now their recruitment has come to an official end.

Wide receiver James Onwualu was the first to graduate early when he finished his last trimester at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, Minn, in November. Onwualu committed to the Irish last March and has always had his eyes set on early enrollment.

Still, his final semester of high school presented challenges.

"It was definitely still hard. It's something that I've had some time to think about," Onwualu said before leaving for Notre Dame. "I feel more prepared than I did a couple months ago."

Onwualu admitted to having doubts at times about skipping the end of his senior year and missing out on shared experiences with those close to him.

"There are definitely times like that where I'm with family and good friends and I'm not sure why I'm doing it just because I'll miss them so much," Onwualu said. "I'm 100-percent confident that I'll be totally comfortable there and that I'll be successful and fit in with everybody once I get there."

Quarterback Malik Zaire set his mind on early enrollment a week after choosing the Irish last March.

"Committing to Notre Dame gave me the incentive to start early because there were a lot of opportunities there, I felt," Zaire said in December. "Going to Notre Dame definitely pushed me toward early enrolling."

Zaire pushed himself through a rigorous final semester at Archbishop Alter in Kettering, Ohio, in order to get himself some reps at quarterback during spring practice.

"Oh my goodness, it was stressful from beginning to end trying to get out of there early," Zaire said. "I figured it will pay off when I move in."

Tight end Mike Heuerman didn't have to look far to find a successful model for enrolling early. His older brother Jeff, who plays tight end at Ohio State, enrolled in January 2011 after graduating from Barron Collier High in Naples, Fla. He's played in 22 games in two seasons with the Buckeyes.

"Knowing that my brother had done it and put him where he's at today, it gives me a lot of motivation as well," Mike Heuerman said.

Offensive lineman Steve Elmer enjoyed the final semester of coursework at Midland (Mich.) High and used it as an opportunity to take a test run at calculus before taking it at Notre Dame.

"It wasn't as much pressure to get 100 percent in the class," Elmer said. "I could spend more time learning the material because I'm taking Calc 1 again next semester. That was less pressure."

Wide receiver Corey Robinson, on the other hand, waited until the last week before finally finishing up his requirements at San Antonio (Texas) Christian. He had to take extra courses in English and economics in order to graduate early.

"It was a little overwhelming," Robinson said during the week before the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 5. "I'm a terrible procrastinator. As a matter of fact, I'm not graduated yet. I have to take one more test."

Robinson passed the test on British literature and graduated a week before classes started at Notre Dame.

Now all five recruits will transition from prospects to student-athletes and test their merit against the academic rigors of Notre Dame and the demands of Kelly and his football program.